{"id":12044,"date":"2026-01-07T11:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T10:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/?p=12044"},"modified":"2026-01-22T16:13:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T15:13:51","slug":"this-viral-image-of-president-maduros-arrest-is-ai-generated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/this-viral-image-of-president-maduros-arrest-is-ai-generated\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS VIRAL IMAGE OF PRESIDENT MADURO\u2019S ARREST IS AI-GENERATED"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Original article\u00a0<\/a><\/u>(in Albanian) was published on 05\/01\/2026; Author:\u00a0Patris Pustina<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the widely reported U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro on January 3, 2026<\/a>, an image<\/a> claiming to depict moments from the incident began circulating online, including<\/a> on<\/a> Albanian-speaking<\/a> media outlets<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, the image above is not real. It was produced using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was originally posted on X\/Twitter by a user<\/a> who calls themselves an \u201cAI video art enthusiast\u201d<\/em> and regularly shares AI-generated content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another clue that the image is likely fake is that one of the soldiers\u2019 vests shows the initials of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), whereas the operation to capture Maduro was carried out<\/a> by Delta Force, a U.S. Army special operations unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the image was not shared by U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s account or by any other organization or U.S. government official. Trump posted<\/a> a photo of Maduro after his capture, where he appeared dressed completely differently, wearing a gray Nike tracksuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another video shared by the White House account @RapidResponse47 shows Maduro being escorted to detention in New York City on January 3, 2026. The footage shows him accompanied by three officers. In this officially released video, Maduro\u2019s clothing is also different from the outfit seen in the AI-generated image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, a visual search with Google Lens revealed that the image was labeled \u201cCreated with Google AI.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>A Google spokesperson told AFP<\/a> that the presence of a SynthID trace indicates that \u201cthe image was generated or altered using AI.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>SynthID<\/a>, introduced by Google\u2019s DeepMind AI lab in 2023, is used to identify images produced with Google AI<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Trump confirmed that Maduro was \u201ccaptured and flown out by plane together with his wife.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated<\/a> that Maduro will face a criminal trial in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Original article\u00a0(in Albanian) was published on 05\/01\/2026; Author:\u00a0Patris Pustina After the widely reported U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro on January 3, 2026, an image claiming to depict moments from the incident began circulating online, including on Albanian-speaking media outlets. Nevertheless, the image above is not real. It was produced using artificial intelligence (AI) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":12048,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[614,695,615,79,306,696],"class_list":["post-12044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-checks","tag-ai-generated","tag-maduro","tag-photo","tag-trump","tag-us","tag-viral-image"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t